The trade deadline has come and gone, the three-quarter pole of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League
season has passed and the stretch drive has begun for the Humboldt Broncos as they look ahead to hosting the
2012 RBC Cup.

It was a quiet Jan. 10 for Broncos head coach and general manager Dean Brockman, who didn’t make any deals
on Deadline Day, sticking with a roster that won 17 games in a row between Nov. 30 and Jan. 21 and took over
top spot in the SJHL standings.

But that’s not to say there wasn’t some movement on the Humboldt roster as the deadline approached; on
Jan. 7, forward Riley Kieser, the only SJHL player to win gold with Canada West at the 2011 World Junior A
Challenge, left the team to join the WHL’s Vancouver Giants.

The Kieser defection, coupled with respect for a roster that has shaken off a 8-8-1-1 start to win 27 of
its last 30 games and rise to No. 2 in the latest national Junior A rankings, meant the Broncos’ bench boss
would be silent at the trade deadline.

“Throughout the whole process, since the announcement was made that we would host, we always were trying
to improve our hockey team on a daily basis,” said Brockman. “We were handcuffed a little when (Kieser) left
for a WHL team, providing us with less depth to make further moves. We also wanted to have some loyalty to a
team that has worked hard to be where they are now.”

But the lack of deadline deals doesn’t mean Brockman hasn’t made a phone call or two this season. In fact,
since the Pembroke Lumber Kings were crowned 2011 national champions on May 8, he has pulled off 17 trades to
help shape his roster:

The trades netted the Broncos four of their top six scorers (Johnston, Ciolfi, Duzan, Marshall), a
two-time member of Canada West in Marshall and a player with previous experience playing for an RBC Cup host
team in Backhouse, who helped the Dauphin Kings reach the national championship game in 2010.

They would have had even more big-game experience had Breitkreuz, another two-time Canada West member who
wore the ‘C’ at the 2010 World Junior A Challenge, not decided to play professionally in Germany this season
with EV Duisberg.

Brockman believes his move-making was a large part of the Broncos slow start, but is impressed with how
his team has come together.

“Guys don't know what to expect or aren't familiar with what the other guys can do early on,” Brockman
told the Regina Leader-Post last week. “I give the players a ton of credit. They found the chemistry in the
(dressing) room and on the ice.”

That chemistry is what has led to a run of 23 games without a regulation loss (the Broncos last 60-minute
defeat was against Yorkton on Nov. 18), and is what the Broncos hope will lead to the franchise’s third
National Junior A Championship come May.

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